Hungaroring: Zytek race report

Mansells Victorious In Ginetta-Zytek
Zytek customer scores class win in Hungary
Greg and Leo Mansell, the sons of 1992 Formula One World Champion,
Nigel, won the LMP1 class today at the 1,000km of the Hungaroring,
driving a Ginetta-Zytek 09SB.

Mansells Victorious In Ginetta-Zytek

Zytek customer scores class win in Hungary

Greg and Leo Mansell, the sons of 1992 Formula One World Champion,
Nigel, won the LMP1 class today at the 1,000km of the Hungaroring,
driving a Ginetta-Zytek 09SB. Olivier Pla and Miguel Amaral in a LMP2
Ginetta-Zytek were second overall after a race in which the top places
on the podium were filled by LMP2 cars. In addition, Karim Ojjeh, Tim
Greaves and Thor-Christian Ebbesvik finished in fifth overall in their
09SB. The fourth round of this year's Le Mans Series was a race of
attrition but all three Ginetta-Zyteks showed not only pace but also
reliability by finishing in the top seven.

The Mansell brothers were seventh overall, six laps ahead of the next
car in their class. Early in the race Greg was running in fifth overall
before a puncture and the need to replace loose bodywork dropped the car
back. As other LMP1s fell back so the young pair pulled their way up the
field to win their class, a dramatic victory for the newly formed
Beechdean Mansell team.

Olivier and Miguel in the Quifel-ASM Ginetta-Zytek fought a frantic,
race long battle with the eventual race winners, first for the lead in
the LMP2 class and then for the overall victory. "I was pushing very
hard," said Olivier after his first stint.

After 134 laps of the six-hour race, the Repton-built cars were first in
both classes. As night fell, the battle for the LMP2 class had become
that for overall lead and the Portuguese 09SB, showing the race pace to
win, was at the head of the field. At one point, all three
Ginetta-Zyteks were in the top five.

However, front-end bodywork damage caused when overlapping a slower car,
meant unscheduled time in the pits for the Quifel-ASM team and a loss of
around two and a half minutes. By the end of the race, its Ginetta-Zytek
was back up to second overall, just one lap of the 4,381 metre circuit
behind.

Underlying an impressive weekend for Zytek Motorsport, the Team
Bruichladdich entry of Karim, Tim and Thor-Christian finished fifth in
the LMP2 category as well as fifth overall.